Kiniro Mosaic – Final Review

I always find Iyashikei slice of life shows very enjoyable since it gives a sense of escapism from reality. This time, this show focuses on a Japanese girl who goes to England for a week for a homestay. Of course, she obsesses over foreigners, especially girls with blond hair that is Kiniro Mosaic.
The story focuses on a girl named Oomiya Shinobu. During her middle school, she went on a one week homestay to England. She stayed at a couple’s house, who have a daughter named Alice Cartelet. While Alice is shy at first, Shinobu eventually befriends her during her stay. At the end of the week, she returns to Japan. Before she departed, she promises Alice that she will come to visit again. She put the chop sticks that she gave as a present for Alice in her hair.

On the first day of high school, she receives a letter from Alice that she is coming to Japan. Alice eventually runs into Shinobu’s friends, Aya and Youko before Shinobu came back. When Sakura, the homeroom teacher introduces Alice, Shinobu becomes surprised. Alice is happy to reunite with her best friend. Apparently, she wants to return the favor back to her and decide to transfer to the same school in Japan. How will Shinobu’s school life will be like now that Alice is now in Japan?

As with most slice of life stories, the story is character driven. I have to admit that there are a lot of funny moments. Aside from Shinobu’s obsession over blonde hair girls to the point she wants to dye her hair blonde, there are many to choose from. This range from Shinobu being computer illiterate because of Isami’s fears of her collecting pictures of blonde hair girls to Shinobu dressed as a forest fairy floating down stream and Aya noticing it.

Of course, it doesn’t end there. There is also Aya’s attempt to emulate Karen and failing at it. Most notably, there is Shinobu’s story where herself with blonde hair and Alice, both princesses of a kingdom. Karen as a pirate kidnaps Shinobu and from there, the story becomes crazier from there.

As for the characters, they are very enjoyable. The main character, Oomiya Shinobu, although a ditz, but a nice girl and don’t know much English besides “hello.” She obviously obsesses over Alice and even Karen. Outside of her school uniform, she wears frilly outfits including maid outfits and Gothic Lolita dresses since they look foreign. Well, the latter is more influenced by Japanese pop culture than western culture ironically.

On the other hand, Alice is the opposite. Although short, she can speak Japanese well enough. She is also sweet and kind despite still being very shy and have strong interest in Japanese culture. As expected, she is cute and foreign, which can explain why Shinobu likes her a lot.

As for the other characters, there is Komichi Aya. She is a shy tsundere, especially towards Youko who she has a huge crush on. On the other hand, Inokuma Youko is a somewhat tomboyish girl and the voice of reason for the group. She is also Aya’s punching bag. It’s mostly because Youko is oblivious towards her feelings. Lastly, there is Karen, who is Alice’s childhood friend. She is half-British and half-Japanese as evident with her Union Jack sweater. She is the most energetic girl in the group and talks in broken Japanese despite being fluent.

Of course, there are noticeable pairings as well. Shinobu and Alice is a given since Shinobu have a strong friendship with Alice bordering on being more than just best friends. Also, her obsession over blonde hair girls plays a factor as well. As you would expect, Karen sometimes compete over Shinobu’s affection given her fetish.

The other obvious pairing is Aya and Youko. Usually, Aya acts cold towards Youko. However, in Shinobu’s story, Youko is depicted as a prince charming for Aya. Not to mention, Aya becomes flustered about the contents in the letter Youko received as well. Her tsundere antics just makes it clear that she loves Youko despite her being oblivious to it.

As a whole, Kiniro Mosaic is a very enjoyable slice of life comedy. There is a lot of moments I really enjoyed and the production values are very good. If you enjoy similar shows like Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka, you will most likely like this show. ¶